Air-brake system.



PATENTED AUG. 15, 1905.

G. E. CONGDUN.

AIR BRAKE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED BBPT. 13,1904.

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PATENTED AUG. 15, 1905. (3+. 131 GONE-WON; I

' AIR BRAKE SY$TEM'. APPLICATION FILED sEPT. 13,1904.

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PATENTED AUG. 15, 1905.

G.E.UONGDON.

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AIR BRAKE SYSTEM.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 13,1904.

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Patented Aug. 15, 1905.

Application filed September 13, 1904. Serial No. 224,279.

To all whom it rarity concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. (lonenon, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Air-Brake Systems, of which the following, taken inconnection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to improvements in air-brake systems forrailway-trains in which a definite air-pressure above atmosphere ismaintained in the train-pipe and in each individual car-brake mechanismwhich depends for its action upon the reduction of such pressure by thevoluntary or accidental escape oi? air from any point in the train-pipe.

if the train'pipe of the air-brake system new in general use isaccidentally broken by the breaking of the train or derailment of one 01the cars, the air in the train-pipe is immediately released and causesthe sudden application of the brakes on both sections of the train. Thisresult is desirable in case of de railment of one or more oil? the cars;but when one or more of the cars break away or sepa rate from the othersit is desirable to set the brakes on the rear section of the train withfull force and to allow the trout section to instantly pull away fromthe rear section and to be slowly brought to a stop by the gradualapplication of its brakes, so as to avoid serious collision between thesections in case the front section should be iirst brought to astandstill. My object, therefore, is to equip the front and rear ends ofeach car with separate but similar attachments which may be set tocontrol the operation of the brakes in different cases oiemergency---such, for instance, as the accidental derailment of one ormore of the cars or the separation 01. one part of the train from theother suliicient to break the continuity of the train-pipe, whichusually occurs at the hose-coupling. ln the first case (that ofseparation of the train-pipe by derailment) the object is to bring thefront of the train to a gradual stop by automatically regulating theescape of air in the front trainpipe section, but to permit theapplication of the brakes on the rear part of the train with full forceby allowing the free escape ol air from the rear train-pipe section, orunder the same conditions the front part of the train may be released byshutting oil the escape of air from thefront train-pipe section andpreventing the application of the brakes, while the air in the reartrain-pipe section is permitted to escape freely to cause the emergencyapplication of the brakes on the rear part of the train. In the secondcase (that of sepa ration of the train without derailment) the object isto permit the release of the front section by automatically shutting oilthe escape of air, and thereby preventing the application of the brakeson the front part of the train, and at the same time to bring the rearsection of the train to a gradual stop by automatically regulating theescape of air therefrom, or under the same conditions the front and rearsections may be brought to a gradual stop, but the front section moreslowly than the rear section.

Other objects and. uses of the diii erent parts of my invention will bebrought out in the following description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan oi portions of two adjacentcars, showing ordinary t 'ainpipe sections coupled together and two ofmy improved controlling devices as mounted upon the coupled ends oladjacent cars and connected to the train-pipe ready for operation. Fig.2is an enlarged top plan of one ol the devices as applied to the rear endof the forward car, but shown in the position assumed when the cars areaccidentally pulled apart and the hose-coupling broken. Figs. 3 and iare detail views, respectively, of one of the air vcnt valves and one oithe adjustable devices ior controll ing the operation of said ventvalve. Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged sectional views taken, respectively,on lines 5 5, Fig. 1, and 6 6 oil Fig. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of asupporting plate or guide for one of the sliding draw-plates by whichthe adja cent main valves in the train-pipe are closed when the train isbroken. Fig. 8 is a perspective view ol the draw-plate and mechanismmounted thereon. Fig. S) is a perspective view of the cap for thedraw-plate. Fig. 10 is a perspective view ol the rocking disk which isbrought into action by the derailment of apart of the train to preventthe ac- Fig. 13. Fig. 16 is a sectional view taken on C, but itsopposite end is detachably con line 16 16 of Fig. 15.

A and A represent two cars moving in the direction indicated by thearrow at and having train-pipe sections B and B, which are located onopposite sides of the longitudinal centers of the cars and are connectedby the usual flexible hose-sectionsb and 7/. These train-pipe sectionsare provided with main valves C and C and with air-vent valves 0 and l ll l l l l l l l 0, the valves C and C being located near the i adjacentends of the cars, and the vent-valves 0 and c are located near but atthe end of the main valve opposite to the hose connection,

so as to control the escape of air from the' train-pipe when the mainvalves are closed. These main valves may be of any suitable well-knownconstruction capable of opening and closing the air-passage through thetrain-pipe and are provided with operating handles D and D, by whichthey may be opened and closed by hand, but are operable automatically bysimilar mechanisms, one of which I will now proceed to describe.Connected to each main valve is a second operating-arm 1, which ispreferably formed integral with the handle and is connected with alimited loss motion to one end of a lever 2 by means of a slotted link3, so that the handle Dmay be operated to open and close the valvewithout affecting the normal position of the lever 2, or it maybeutilized to return the lever to its normal position and at the same timeopen the main valve. This link therefore constitutes a slidingconnection between the valve and lever to permit the free operation ofthe miin valve without disturbing the normal position of the lever orparts connected thereto. This lever is fLllCI'UHIQtl in a horizontalposition at 4 (shown by dotted lines, Fig. 5) upon a suitable support,as a metal plate 5, which in turn is attached to the under side of thecar by means of a hanger or bracket 6. The hanger is permanently securedto the beams or floor of the car by any suitable fastening means (notshown) and is provided with depending slotted arms '7, to which theplate 5 is adjustably secured by clamping-bolts 8 passing through theslots in the arms 7, the plate 5 also having depending position fordifferent cars and to hold said mechanism in fixed relation to thetrain-pipe.

' The lever 2 extends transversely and at opposite sides of thetrain-pipe, and 1 have stated that one end is attached to the mainvalve, as

nected by a cable 12 to a draw-plate 13, which in turn is connected by asecond cable 1% to the next adjacent car.

The plate 5 is provided with a box-like structure 15, rising from itstop face and consisting of converging sides 16 and an end 17, so as toform a longitudinally-tapering pocket with its large end opening towardthe next adjacent car to permit the draw-plates 13 to be easily detachedin case of separation of the cars without derailment. It thereforefollows that the end 1'7 is at the small end of the tapering pocket, andthis end is provided with an aperture or slot 18, through which one endof the cable 12 is inserted and is attached to a stud or pin 19 on theplate 13. The other end of the cable 12 is attached to a hooked end 20of the lever 2 opposite to that which is connected to the arm 1 and isnormally held in place by one end of a sliding catch 21,which rides in aguide 22 and extends lengthwise of the lever 2 beyond its fulcrum andhas its other end pivoted at 23 to the fixed plate 5, so that when thelever is rocked from its normal position (seen in Fig. 1) to theposition seen in Fig. 2 the catch and lever slide lengthwise of eachother and the catch engages and detaches the adjacent end of the cablefrom the hooked end 20, and thereby permits the plates 5 and 13 to beseparated or drawn apart when the cars are separated without derailment,the plate 13 of one car being drawn with the next adjacent car by meansof the cable 11.

The d raw-plate 13 is provided with upturned converging side flanges 2aand tits closely within the box-like structure 15 and is normally heldin operative position by means of a spring-catch 25, which is secured toone of the sides 16 and has its free end playing in an opening 26 andengaged with a notch or recess 27 in the adjacent side 2% of thedrawplate 13, so as to frietionally hold said drawplate in position.This dra\ -plate is provided with a cap or top 28, having a dependingflange 29 at one end opposite to the end 17 for closing the open end ofthe box-like structure 15 and adjacent end of the plate 13, said capbeing secured to the plate 13 by means of clamping-bolts 19 and 30 andsuitable nuts, which are engaged with the top face of the cap. The plate13 is held against vertical movement by shoulders 31 on the boxstructure 15, which enter recesses 32 in the adjacent ends of the sides2%, and is further held against vertical movement by shoulders 33, whichare formed upon the flange 29 of the cap 28 and enter suitable recesses3% in the sides 16. These interlocking shoulders 31 and are arranged soas to permit the plate 13 with its cap to be drawn endwisc from theplate 5; but when this plate 13 is in operative position these shoulders31 and 33 serve to lock the plate 13 against vertical movement.

waste it is apparent from the foregoing description that if the cars Aand A are accidentally separated without derailment while the train isunder motion the cables 1% operate to draw the sliding plates 13 fromtheir respective fastenings upon the plates 5, which by means of theconnections 12 operate to rock the levers 2 and to thereby close thevalves U and U through the medium of the links 3 and valve-operating arm1; but during this rocking movement of the levers 2 the cables 12 aredetached from said levers by means of the tripping devices or catches21, so that the continued separation of the cars after the main valvesin the train-pipe are closed causes the breaking of the hose-couplings7) or 7),and the sliding plate 13 of one car remains attached by thecables 14 to the end of the next adjacent car. In such an emergency itis desirable to stop the rear section of the train gradually and topermit the front section to draw away from the rear section, or ratherto stop the rear section more speedily than the front section. In orderto do this, i have provided the train-pipe sections B and B with thevent-valves c and c, and I have also provided means whereby more or lessair may be allowed to escape through either 0 f these vent- Valves. Thismeans preferably consists of an operating-arm 34c and a link 35, havingone end connected 'to the operating-arm 3 1 and its other end adjustably connected to the lever 2. tin order to effect this adjustment,the lever 2 is preferably provided near its pivot with a flange 36,having a series of apertures 37, one of which is alined with the pivotalaxis of the lever 52.

A catch 38 is pivoted to the free end of the link 35 and is providedwith a pin 39, which is adapted to enter either of the apertures 37,which apertures, with the exception of one, are Etl'l'ztl'lg'l-Etldifferent distances from the pivotal axis of the lever 2, so that whenthe pin 3.) is in the aperture which is alined with the pivotal axis ofsaid lever there will be no action of the vent-valve, which is normallyclosed, but when the pin 39 is moved to either of the other aperturesthe vent-valve will be opened to a greater or less degree, according towhich aperture the pin 39 is inserted into.

The pin 39 on the front end of the rear ear is set in one of theapertures 37 at one side of the pivotal axis of the lever 52, while thepin 39 on the rear end of the front car is normally set either in theaperture which is alined with the pivotal axis of the lever .2 or in oneof the other apertures a less distance from said axis than that at whichthe pin 39 on the front end of the rear car is set, so that when themain valves in the train-pipe are closed by the breaking of the train orthe separation of the cars A and A the lever 2 on the front end of therear car will cause the opening of the air-vent valve 0' to a greater orless degree to permit the gradual escape of air and therefore thegradual application of the brakes on the rear section of the train, itbeing understood that the levers are set by hand to the desired positionwhen the train is made up, but may be adjusted by the same means at anytime after the cars are connected.

Although the link 35 on the front end of the rear car is always adjustedto cause an opening of the vent-valve to a greater or less degree tocause the gradual application of the brakes on the rear end of thetrain, yet on the rear end of the front car it is necessary to have thelever 35 adjusted so as to prevent the opening of the vent-valve or elseto cause it to open only a slight degree as compared with the opening ofthe vent-valve on the front end of the rear section, so that the frontend of the train is practically released by preventing the suddenapplication of the brakes to permit said front section of the train todraw away from the rear section, and thereby avoid collision between thetwo sections.

l: have thus far described the mechanism for controlling the operationof the brakes in case of se nii-ation of the train without derailment,and I. will now proceed to describe the additional mechanism which isbrought into action by the separation of the train through derailment.For this latter purpose a rocking disk 4:0 is pivoted in a horizontalposition at 30 upon the plate 13 and is provided with upwardly-projecting studs t! and as at opposite sides of its axis, andupon these studs are pivoted suitable bell-crank levers a3 and as. Twoof the arms of these levers extend toward each other from their pivotsand are inter locked with each other at their meeting ends, while theother two arms extend toward the adjacent ends of the car along theinside of the walls 24:, the interlockii'ig ends of the levers as and2L3 being held in their normal position by a suitable spring at, Figs. 6and 8.

A pair of gripping-tongs as are pivoted upon the stud 30, which alsoforms a pivot of the disk a0, and these tongs are provided withgripping-jaws at the front and rear of their pivot, the jaws at the sidetoward the adjacent end of the car being closed upon one end of thechain 1 1 and are held in this closed. position by a stud 46, which isformed upon one of the toggle-levers, as 4L3, near the toggle-joint ormeeting ends of said levers, so that by rocking the other ends of thelevers inwardly the shoulder or pin a6 is thrown out from between thegripping-jaws and permits the opposite jaws to open to release the cable14:. This is accomplished automatically by the accidental deraihnei'itof a part of the train, which of course draws laterally upon the cables14, and thereby rocks the disk 10 and jaws 4.6 in one direction or theother, according to the side to which the car is deflected, until one orthe other of the levers a3 and 43 ei'igages the adjacent wall 2 t of theplate 13, whereby the continued lateral pull upon the cables 14: causesthe levers 13 and as to rock upon their pivots sufiicient to withdrawthe shoulder A6 from between the adjacent jaws of the tongs 45, and assoon as this shoulder 46 has been withdrawn the adjacent ends of thecables 14: are released from connection with the tongs,

' and consequently the connection between the levers 2 with the nextadjacent car is broken, thereby leaving the main valves U and C open topermit the free escape of the air when the hose-couplings Z) and I) arebroken by separation caused by the derailment of one of the cars. Itwill be apparent that if these valves are left open when the train-pipecoupling is broken the free escape of the air will cause the immediateapplication with full force of the brakes on both the front and rearsections of the train; but it is desirable to bring the front part ofthe train to a gradual stop or to entirely release it, so that it mayimmediately pull away from the rear section to avoid serious collisionin case the front part of the train is derailed. I therefore provideeach cap 28 of each draw-plate with a pin 50 and an aperture 51, throughwhich the pin 50 may be inserted between the jaws of the tongs 4:5 andclose to the pin 46. This pin is inserted in the manner just describedonly on the rear end of each front car, as seen in Fig. 1, while it iswithdrawn on the front end of each rear car, as at A in the same figure.

The insertion of the pin, as shown in Fig. 6, prevents the opening ofthe jaws to which the cable 1 1 is attached when the pin 16 is withdrawnin the manner previously described, and therefore even though the diskon the rear end of the front car may be rocked sufficient to move thepin $6 from between the jaws the pin will still hold the jaws in theirclosed position, and therefore maintain connection between the lever 2on the rear end of the car A and adjacent end of the car A, while underthe same conditions the connections between the lever 2 on the front endof the car A and adjacent end of the car A will be broken. It is nowapparent that when the pin 50 is inserted between the jaws on the rearend of the front car the separation of the cars by derailment will causethe valve C to close, while the valve C will remain open, and thereforepermit the emergency application of the brakes on the rear section ofthe train, while the front section will be released either wholly orgradually, according to the position of the link 35, which controls theopening of the air-vent valve 0. In Fig. 3 I have shown a sectional viewof this air-vent valve as having air-passages and 56 of different sizes,either of which may be brought into registration with the exhaust orvent opening 57 of the valve-casing, according to the adjusted positionof the lever 35.

The operation of my invention may be briefly stated as follows: Assumingthat the main valves in the train-pipe are open and the levers 2 areconnected to the adjacent cars in the manner shown in Fig. 1 and thatthe link 35 is adjusted so that the pin 39 enters the third aperture 37at one side of one of the pivotal axes of the lever 2 of the rear car Aand also assuming that the link 35 of the front car A is set so that itspin 39 is inserted in the first aperture at one side of the pivotal axisof the corresponding lever 2, now if the cars A and A should separate orpull apart without derailment the draw-plates 13 of both cars would bedrawn out of their respective supports 15 of the plates 5, therebyroeking the levers 2 and closing both valves C and O and holding the airin the train-pipe after the flexible hose connections 6 and 7) have beenbroken. During this op eration of closing the valves C and G the airventvalves 0 and a have both been opened by the links 35; but the frontvalve 0 has been opened to a greater degree than the valve 0 forpermitting a more speedy release of the air and consequent quickeraction of the brakes on the rear train-section, while the air on thefront section is permitted to escape less freely, and therefore theapplication of the brakes on the front section is slower and permitssaid front section to pull away from the rear section.

The operation in case of separation by derailment is believed to befully understood from the foregoing description, and although 1 havedescribed a particular mechanism for carrying out the objects of myinvention I do not wish to limit myself to such construction as is shownand described.

The device seen in Figs. 13 to 16, inclusive, is adapted for the frontend of the car and as a substitute for that seen in Fig. 1. In thisdevice the main valve-lever 1 is connected by a link 60 to a rock-arm 61and also to a slotted link 3, and this slotted link is connected to alever 62. The arm 61 is pivoted at 63 to a fixed frame 6 1, whichincloses the greater part of the valve-operating mechanism, particularlythe arm 61, link 3, and lever 62.

This lever 62 operates in substantially the same manner as the lever 2in Fig. 1, being pivoted at 65 to the bottom of the case 6 1, and at itsother end is connected by cables 66 to a draw-plate 13. The trip rod orbar 21 is connected to operate the vent-valve c and is similar in itsadjustment to that seen in Fig. 2; but the means for effecting thisadjustment is different and consists of a lever 67, which is connectedto a second lever 68, and this latter lever is pivoted with a ball-joint69 to the upper wall of the case 6 1, so that by lifting up on the lever67 the lever 68 is rocked upwardly and withdraws the pin 70 fromapertures in the lever 62, whereupon said pin 70 may be inserted in oneor the other of the apertures in the lever 62 either at the center orpivotal axis 65 or at one side of the said axis for the same purpose asthat described for the adjustment seen in Fig. 2.

The sliding draw-head seen in Fig. 15 differs tromthat seen in Fig. 6only in the substitution of a rock-shaft 72 for the lockingpin 50 ofFig. 6, said rock-shaft 72 being provided with one or more lingers 73,which ongage notches 74 in the front face of the rocking plate 40.

The front ends of the jaws 4C5 are normally engaged with an oscillatorypin 75, which is pivoted in the front wall of the draw-plate 13, so thatthe plate 40 is rocked by oscillatory movement of the pin 75 as eilectedby the lateral derailment of the car.

Having thus described my invention, what ll claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with an air-brake system and cars to which it isapplied, said system including a train-pipe having a normally open mainvalve and a normally closed vent-- valve at the coupled end of each ear,of a mechanism on each car operatively connected to its valves and tothe adjacent car whereby the separation of said cars causes the closingof the main valves and opening of the ventvalves.

.2. The combination with an air-brake system and cars to which it isapplied, said system including a trainupe bavinga normally open valve atthe coupled end of each car, of separate connections between the valveof each car and the adjacent car whereby the separation of the carscauses the closing of the valves, each of said connections includingmeans brought into action by the derailment of one of the cars to breakthe connection and thereby prevent the closing of the valves.

3. The combination with an air-brake system and cars to which it isapplied, said sys tem including a train-pipe having a normally openvalve at the coupled end of each car, of separate connections betweenthe valve ot'each car and the adjacent car whereby the separation of thecars causes the closing of the valves, and a valved air-vent for thetrainpipe section of one of the cars operatively connected to andactuated by one of said connections.

4i. The combination with an air-brake system and cars to which it isapplied, said system including a train-pipe having a normally open valveat the coupled end of each car, of a valved air-vent for the trainiiiiie and connections between the coupled cars whereby the separation ofsaid cars causes the lirstnamed valve to close and the vent-valve toopen.

5. The combination with an air-brain; system and cars to which it isapplied, said system including a train-pipe having a normally open valveat the coupled end of each car, of a valved air-vcnt for the train-pipesection of one of the cars, and mechanism brought into action by theseparation oi said cars for clos ing the lirst-named valve and openingthe airvent valve.

6. in combination with the train-pipe of an air-brake system for cars,each car-section of the train-pipe having a normally open valve at eachend, and each valve opcratively connected to the adjacent car wherebythe separation without derailment of the cars causes said valves toclose the connection of the valve of each car to the adjacent carincluding means brought into action by the derailment of one car tobreak such connection and prevent the closing of said valves.

7. in combination with the train-pipe oi an air-brake system for cars,each car-section of the train-pipe having a normally open valve at eachend, and each valve operatively connected to the adjacent car wherebythe separation oi the cars causes said valves to close, a valvedair-vent in the trout end of each train-pipe section, and means broughtinto action by the breaking oi? the train to open the air-vent valve.

8. In combination with the train-pipe of an air-brake system for cars,each car-section of the train-pipe having a normally open main valve anda vent-valve, a lever connected to the main and vent valves of one carand also connected to the adjacent car whereby the separation of thecars causes their main valves to close and their vent-valves to open,and means brought into action by the movement of the lever to break theconnection between the lever and the adjacent car.

9. The combination with two cars and a train-pipe of an air-brake systemhaving normally open valves, the valve of one car being operativelyconnected to the other car whereby the valves are closed when the carsare separated, separate devices for breaking the connections between thevalves and cars when said valves close a normally open vent-valve in thetrain-pipe of each car connected to the adjacent car whereby theseparation of the cars causes the vent-valves to open, and separatemeans for varying the degree of opening of the vent-valves of each car.

10. In combination with an air-brake system for cars including atrain-pipe section for each car and hose-couplings for said sections,each section having a normally open main valve and a normally closedair-vent at each end, both valves at one end of each car havingoperative connection with each other whereby when one closes the otheropens and vice versa, and means brought into action by the separation ofzuljacentcars whereby the main valve is closed.

1 1. in combination with an air-brake system for cars including atrain-pipe section for each car and hose-couplings for said sections,each section having a normally open main valve and a normally closedair-vent at each end, both valves at one end of each car havingoperative connection with each other whereby when one closes the otheropens and vice versa, and means brought into action by the separation ofadjacent cars whereby the main valve is closed, the connection with theairvent valve being adjustable to vary the movement of the valve andthereby vary the amount of air released to control the speed of actionof the brakes.

12. The combination with a car and trainpipe of an air-brake system, ofa normally open main valve in the train-pipe, a lever operativelyconnected to the valve and adapted for connection with a second carwhereby the separation of the car operates the lever to close the valve,said lever having loose connection with and operable independently ofthe valve.

13. The combination with two cars coupled together and an air-brakesystem including a train-pipe having a normally open main valve for eachcar, an operating-lever for each valve, a separate connection betweeneach lever and the adjacent car whereby the lever is actuated by theseparation of the cars to close the valve, and means brought into actionby the rocking of the levers to automatically detach each connectionfrom its lever as the valve is closed.

14. Tliecombination with two cars coupled together and an air-brakesystem including a train-pipe having a normally open main valve for eachcar, an operating-lever for each valve, a separate connection betweeneach lever and the adjacent car whereby the lever is actuated by theseparation of the cars to close the valve, and means to automaticallybreak the connection between the lever and adjacent car as the valve isclosed, a valved air-vent for the train-pipe of one of the cars, andadjustable means connecting the lever and vent-valve whereby saidvent-valve is opened a greater or less degree as the main valve isclosed.

15. The combination with two cars coupled together and an air-brakesystem including a train-pipe having a normally open main valve for eachcar, an operating-lever for each valve, a gripping-tongs in eachconnection, and separate devices brought into action by the derailmentof one of the cars to trip the gripping-tongs and break saidconnections.

16. The combination with two cars coupled together and an air-brakesystem including a train-pipe having a normally open main valve for eachcar, an operating-lever for each valve, a gripping-tongs in eachconnection, and separate devices brought into action by the derailmentof one of the cars to trip the gripping-tongs and break saidconnections, and means to lock one of the tongs from opening 5 by suchderailment to cause the closing of the valve to which it is connected.

17. The combination with two cars coupled together and an air-brakesystem including a train-pipe having a main valve for each car, of anoperating-arm for each valve, separate levers connected to said arms, asliding plate on each car connected to the adjacentlever, a rocking diskon each plate, a gripping-tongs also mounted on each plate, separateconnections each having one end held by its tongs and its other endattached to the adjacent car, separate locking devices to hold the jawsof the gripping-tongs closed, and means brought into action by thederailment of the train to trip said locking devices and thereby permitthe jaws to open.

18. The combination with two cars coupled together and an air-brakesystem includinga train-pipe having a main valve for each car, of anoperating-arm for each valve, separate levers connected to said arms, asliding plate on each car connected to the adjacent lever, a rockingdisk on each plate. a gripping-tongs also mounted on each plate,separate connections each having one end held by its tongs and its otherend attached to the adjacent car, separate locking devices to hold thejaws of the gripping-tongs closed, and means brought into action by thederailment of the train to trip said locking devices and thereby permitthe jaws to open, and additional means to lock one of the tongs fromopening during such derailment.

19. The combination with two cars coupled together and an air-brakesystem including a train-pipe having a main valve for each car, of anoperating-arm for each valve, separate levers connected to said arms, asliding plate on each car connected to the adjacent lever, a rockingdisk on each plate, a gripping-tongs also mounted on each plate,separate connections each having one end held by its tongs and its otherend attached to the adjacent car, separate locking devices to hold thejaws of the gripping-tongs closed, and means brought into action by thederailment of the train to trip said locking devices and thereby permitthe jaws to open, additional means to lock one of the tongs from openingduring such derailment, a valved air-vent for the trainpipe of each car,and connections between one of the levers and the ventvalve whereby saidventvalve is opened as the main valve is closed.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 8th day ofSeptember, 1904:.

GEORGE E. CONGDON. 1V itnesses:

H. E. CHASE, J. M. HAMMEKEN.

